By Adam Swift
The town has selected an owner’s project manager for the $38.5-million new fire station project on the site of the old middle school on Pauline Street.
With the owner’s project manager in place, the next steps for the project, which was approved by voters in April, include hiring an architect and putting the abatement and demolition of the old middle school and auditorium out to bid. The school’s gymnasium and the ice rink will remain in place.
The owner’s project manager selected by the town is P3, which stands for Project Planning Professionals, out of Norwell, according to Town Council President Jim Letterie.
“The president of the company is Dan Pallotta, he has 30 years experience and he’s an incredibly nice guy,” said Letterie. “He is in the middle of doing the Taunton public safety facility right now, and they also did the Moody Street fire station in Waltham. It’s a great firm.”
There were nine applicants for the owner’s project manager position, with four firms interviewed before it was narrowed down to two finalists and P3 was selected.
There will be a similar process to hire a project architect, with the Request for Qualifications already being released.
“We hope that Kaestle Boos, who has gotten us this far, will put in a bid,” said Letterie. “But we think for transparency and everything else that we want to open it up and see that we get the best possible (architect) for the town.”
The town will also be putting out bids soon for the abatement and demolition of the old middle school, with the goal of beginning the actual abatement and demolition process in the fall.
“By the end of the fall, the plan is to have the middle school and the auditorium down and the site cleared,” Letterie said. “The only concern we have, and we are well aware of it, is just making that clean break between the auditorium and the gym. The plan is to have parks and rec … we want to make sure that they are going to have a temporary space for the next school year while we make sure everything is fine for them to be able to come back and ultimately have their home in the old gymnasium.”
The next meeting of the Firehouse Building Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Harvey Hearing Room at Town Hall.
Letterie said the town is also seeking residents wishing to serve on a fire station reuse committee to help determine the future of the existing stations on Pauline Street and Shirley Avenue.
“The thought is still that the Shirley station would be developed, and the Pauline station still needs to have a lot of input from community members to see what would be the best use of that building,” Letterie said.